Worth checking out?

Triadninja

Basically what the title says. I've been paying attention to Everquest Next, as well as enjoying Planetside 2 (whose engine is the same for Everquest Next, so its going to look amazing) and I was curious if it would be worth it, being free to play and all, to go through Everquest 2, maybe learn the lore/story, and try and  understand what made this game what it is/was back in the day. I tried to play it about a year ago, however at the time I made a character, jumped in and just shuttered at the idea of leveling in an environment that was all too familiar to me(the area I started off in was some frozen place, and it just felt so much like Wrath of the Lich King, (and yes I know the two games are different) that I just didn't play it past level 1). But i'm willing to give it another go, just to see what its all about.

 

On a side note; What does the population of the game look like currently? Is there still people playing the game/dedicated playerbase, or would I be walking into a ghost town?

stringboi

I played EQ2 heavily before it went f2p and I thought it was a great game with tons of stuff to lose yourself in.  The crafting is pretty cool, housing is great, tons of quests and nice long storylines to complete.  I found the longer you stay and delve into the game, the better it gets.  I had a ton of fun in EQ2, and if you've never played it before....do give it a try.  Dont judge it by the first half hour of play....it gets pretty deep if you like that sort of stuff. 

Knytta

Yes EQ2 is still an amazing game even if you only want to travel around. Antonia Bayle and Freeport servers have the highest population. There are some good info from similar questions:

Here http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/399639/page/1

and Here http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/6069038#6069038

 

Have Fun!

Nadia

Halas, the winter newbie zone, is the newest starting area but i never cared for it

 

I usually level my new characters in Dark Light woods and Timorous Deep

- traditionally intended for evil city races but good city races can quest there too  (just watch out for guards in DLwoods)

 

if i play a good race, I choose Greater Fay,

run my butt to Kelethin city and bind myself next to a world travel bell

then i travel to Timorous Deep to do my initial newbie questing

(need to fly from the Gorowyn docks to Chrykori Island Beach)

http://eq2.wikia.com/wiki/Timorous_Deep_Timeline